This is the river that is known from the movie The Bridge Over River Kwai. According to Wikipedia, The labor used to build this railroad bridge was American, British, Australian, Dutch and other prisoners of war. It was to connect Burma to Siam (Thailand now) together for the Japanese. The river is known now as Kwai Yai River since its name change in 1960.
In May of 2005 Ning’s family and I went to this river for a day tour by barge. Our trip took us about 5 kilometers from the Thai town of Kanchanaburi. The bridge is in Tamarkan town of Thailand.
Ning's Family on the barge.
Our rented barge was about 15 feet across and 25 to 30 feet long. A smaller one-person boat towed it. The river was really easy flowing and was just a little muddy.
If memory serves me right, the trip was like 2 to 3 hours down and about 2 hours back. We saw some really nice Thai houses. You could see a Buddha Statue up on a hill over looking the river. It is in the back of Wat Kao Pun. There were some steep hills and cliffs that went right into the river too. The scenery was really very nice.
Thai house on the river
When we got to the fairest point from our start, we could all go for a swim if one wanted. Ning’s brothers went swimming with her one niece. They had a good time.
Buhhda at the back of Wat Kao Pun
When we got back from the river ride, we went and checked out the bridge. We also went and looked at the Kanchanaburi War cemetery. There are over 1,700 Australian, British, New Zealand, Dutch and French Prisoners of war buried there. We did not get a chance to see Chug Kai Allied War Memorial. Along with all the war prisoners, 80,000 to 100,000 civilians died in the bridge building effort too.
Looking down the bridge
